West Virginia University students will now be able to grant access to relevant student records via a new parents/guests portal as of July 1.

The parent/guest portal will allow students to grant proxy access to STARWVU’s student information system. Students can grant access to information in categories such as grades, financial aid, housing, dining and billing.

“This portal will allow a more user-friendly and streamlined experience for everyone involved,” said Katie Gallagher, parent relations director in the WVU President’s office. “It’s going to be much easier for the students and parents, as well as staff members at WVU who provide assistance in our student service units.”

Through the new portal, students will have an opportunity to set their own FERPA passphrase that will replace any existing five-digit FERPA pins that current students may have developed during their freshman year. The old five-digit pins are set to expire on Sept. 15. All students will be notified via MIX email to log on to the new parent/guest portal and establish or reestablish what FERPA access they wish to grant this summer.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act regulations are designed to safeguard student information by ensuring it is only used when necessary.

WVU employees will ask for the newly established FERPA passphrase instead of the FERPA pin number when calling student service offices to authenticate the identity of the caller as of Sept. 15.

“Even if you’re about to be a senior, and you’ve had this five-digit pin number for three years, you will still have to create a new passphrase,” Gallagher said.

With online access to adjust specific access, start and stop dates, and reset FERPA passcodes, students can adjust access to parents/guests at anytime and those changes will be made instantly.

“This will be a wonderful opportunity for families to be better connected when it comes to student information,” said Sabrina Cave, executive director of the Mountaineer Parents Club.

A parent/guest will have the opportunity to log onto the account and pay any necessary fees or bills at any time so long as the student permits access. If a student does not permit access, the parent won’t be able to see any student information.

“The parent/guest portal allows students to conveniently and securely share information with their parents,” said Brice Knotts, director of Student Systems Management at WVU. “Parents now have a convenient way to view the information their student has shared with them.”

All WVU campuses will be affected by this change – not just those in Morgantown.

For more information on the new parent portal, visit http://parent-guest.portal.wvu.edu/. On the website, you will see important directions for students, parents and guests, step-by-step tutorials and frequently asked questions. For more information on FERPA rules and regulations, visit http://ferpa.wvu.edu/.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Katie Gallagher, Parent Relations Director
304-293-9260, Katie.Gallagher@mail.wvu.edu

td/06/27/12

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